Extended Warranty and Valve Cover Gasket Saga for 2013 Passat TDI Sel Prem

[jlr]

All,
I've started posting the saga elsewhere but wanted to consolidate and update:

The valve cover gasket is leaking. I've seen others in the forum who got the repair approved.

Dealership says that yesterday the Volkswagen Warranty Representative stated that a 2013 Passat TDI Sel Prem is a GEN 2 and the valve cover itself is covered but not the gasket. In addition, injector seals have to be replaced once removed when replacing the gasket and extended warranty might not cover the seals. At first, I was told that the warranty rep said the seals ARE covered, now they are not sure. Suddenly this is over $2100.

I'm asking those who have successfully argued that covering the head and head cover but not the gasket between makes no sense: did you do this through Customer Care? What about the class action counsel? Contact details? If anyone succeeded and documented it, please share. I need some help here! This is crazy.

 

[bustNfuel]

I'm going through this same asinine debacle as well.
Tech reported gasket is leaking. Service Manager says the gasket itself is NOT covered under any warranty. Don't they know their own product? The gasket is included with the Cylinder Head Cover #1582 on the warranty item document (Rocker Cover) yet they say it's now superceded or something like that.
I fall within the Extended Emissions Warranty VWP-17-08 'REVISED' and have been told the same by the Regional associate that it was escalated to.

I told them that after buying FIVE VWs from this dealership, that there will be no more, and that my Passat will go directly to CarMax if it is not repaired. The same goes for my turbocharger extended warranty. Not covered.

I'm not surprised. And I don't expect any recourse. Adios VW.

 

[jlr]

Yep, I also sent the Customer Care confirmation that the car is under the Extended Emissions Warranty etc. As of yesterday, I'm also now at the "regional case manager" level. When I mentioned item 1582 the response was "this is not the cylinder head gasket it is the valve cover gasket. 2 separate items." Yeah, ok. Look, VW either covers the long block or it doesn't. We know they want to put the whole TDI nightmare behind them but just because the warranty is getting closer to the end doesn't mean it's at the end.
I'm supposed to get the answer by the end of today, and it better affirm coverage. I'll try the warranty counsel next if they refuse. One thing for sure, I'm not paying any dealer $2100 for a valve cover gasket (1200 + 900 because "we have to replace the injector seals"). Not happening.

 

[bustNfuel]

Apparently the issue is the plastic "rocker cover/valve cover/engine cover" warps due to heat stress over the last ten years of use, and it's not really the gasket itself alone, but probably a combination of the two, and pukes oil. I actually purchased an OEM plastic cover kit which includes the required gaskets and such to change the whole cover and injector pull/replace. I need to inventory what's in the box which is still in the trunk (they won't use that part even though it's OEM; they want to charge me labor to change it!) as I'm pretty sure they're not going to cover the cover (haha) and I'll end up doing it myself.

I'm still waiting to hear back from my Regional Representative "Cole G" regarding the final decision as my Passat sits outside at the VW service department.

 

[drew_t]

Look, VW either covers the long block or it doesn't.

Plus, the extended emissions warranty that they agreed to provide as a condition to being allowed by the government to re-sell the cars explicitly states “conflicts concerning the warranty are to be resolved in favor of the consumer.” If VW did not want to be on the hook for replacing this gasket, the warranty should have clearly and unambiguously stated that the valve cover gasket is not covered. There is no such exclusion in the warranty.

 

[bustNfuel]

Well the saga continues with my oil leak (puking oil, not just some dampness).

Regional Rep emailed me a couple days ago claiming that since there is no MIL (an oil leak that bad would be interesting) that they cannot approve any warranty repair for the 'gasket'. Even though the gasket comes with the Engine Cover (rocker cover, plastic and very likely warped) is a covered component.

Going to retrieve it this afternoon, hopefully without a mass of new door dings from sitting in their service dept parking lot (it had NONE when I dropped it off two weeks ago) and change it myself.

 

[jlr]

Regional "Care" rep called to say they will NOT cover the gasket. "If it were the cover and the gasket, we would approve the repair. But the gasket alone is not covered." Among the many issues this idiotic response raises is that VW has in fact covered this repair for other owners. So, what, it's covered when they feel like but since we're nearly out of this warranty period we don't feel like it anymore? They want $1200 for the gasket and $920 for the injector seals that will have to be replaced as a result of doing the gasket. How about NO thank you.

 

[eugene89us]

I figured it was an uphill battle to have them cover the valve cover gasket. Frankly speaking, this was a fairly easy and straightforward job. I posted a guide from my experience here on forums. It is pretty much just disconnecting things to get them out of the way, then replacing the cover once you get to it. Everything went smoothly for me and the replacement was a success. At that price, you can replace the entire valve cover for completeness sake with new gasket on it and still have a lot of money left over.

 

[jlr]

Update: Regional Rep called again to "discuss." She added this gem: "This is a court-ordered warranty. We can't alter it and the gasket is not included. If it was the cover and the gasket that would be a different story." You can't make this up! Wish I were mechanically inclined to remove the cover and replace it..but I'm not. Still, there will NEVER be a time when I'll pay $2,000 to a VW dealer for a damn valve cover gasket replacement.

 

[bustNfuel]

I received the same run-around as you! I had an OEM valve cover, in the box, with the gasket included. And the bolts! They wouldn't look at it.
Was going to replace it myself, until researching the issue found that it is likely the plastic valve cover deforming. Along with an impending turbocharger failure, and needing a timing belt, water pump etc and DSG service, and 4 new tires, struts, brakes. I traded it in last night on a new Nissan Frontier 4x4 for my new daily driver.

Loved my Passat, everything about it, but as the extended VW/EPA warranties expire, I can't depend on it anymore.

Hope everyone else gets this issue sorted out.

 

[jlr]

After all the energy and time on this, and hoping that "conflicts concerning the warranty are to be resolved in favor of the consumer", the reality is that Volkswagen will not honor TDI extended warranties. There's no point: this car had a "low oil PRESSURE/turn off engine immediately" last year but as the battery needed replacing, they claimed that they could not retrieve the code. They also misreported it as "low oil level" which is definitely not what it was. I got nailed for a diagnostic ("sorry but we couldn't find any codes") which normally is covered. I got a crazy $2000 estimate to deal with a valve cover gasket (and btw they never offered to torque the valve cover gasket bolts which have a habit of getting loose on a 10 year old Passat)...So many contradictions, with some drivers getting it covered, others like me and bustNfuel being denied, no consistency, no clarity, just a giant excuse making exercise. But the reality is that the extended warranty from VW is not going to be honored. So...since I'm mechanically inept, if anyone knows a decent VW TDI mechanic in Connecticut let me know.

 

[Outlier]

I received the same run-around as you! I had an OEM valve cover, in the box, with the gasket included. And the bolts! They wouldn't look at it.
Was going to replace it myself, until researching the issue found that it is likely the plastic valve cover deforming. Along with an impending turbocharger failure, and needing a timing belt, water pump etc and DSG service, and 4 new tires, struts, brakes. I traded it in last night on a new Nissan Frontier 4x4 for my new daily driver.

Loved my Passat, everything about it, but as the extended VW/EPA warranties expire, I can't depend on it anymore.

Hope everyone else gets this issue sorted out.

Oddly enough I'm considering doing the same even though I was fortunate enough to not have the issue that you and jlr have had. It sucks to hear about you guys getting the run-around.

Based on the experience I had, I believe it's related to how competent the service department is and how busy they are. But I haven't worked for VW since 2018 so there is that.

 

[thelovehateofTDICKRA]

All,
I've started posting the saga elsewhere but wanted to consolidate and update:

The valve cover gasket is leaking. I've seen others in the forum who got the repair approved.

Dealership says that yesterday the Volkswagen Warranty Representative stated that a 2013 Passat TDI Sel Prem is a GEN 2 and the valve cover itself is covered but not the gasket. In addition, injector seals have to be replaced once removed when replacing the gasket and extended warranty might not cover the seals. At first, I was told that the warranty rep said the seals ARE covered, now they are not sure. Suddenly this is over $2100.

I'm asking those who have successfully argued that covering the head and head cover but not the gasket between makes no sense: did you do this through Customer Care? What about the class action counsel? Contact details? If anyone succeeded and documented it, please share. I need some help here! This is crazy.

Well my service dept didn't even mention warranty and neither did dealer when I bought mine, paid for the valve cover and gasket out of pocket. After timing belt replacement at 120k started having electric and oil leaks at xamshaft and crankshaft, no mention warranty, egr cooler had oil around it no mention of warranty, rear main seal oil around it no mention of warranty. Never knew it existed until my car died suddenly and I was told engine needed replace. I fixed all but camshaft/crankshaft leak which I had to save 3000 dollars for because have to pull engine out again to do, they didn't replace seals at ttb change and I quote because they didn't look like they needed to be replaced. Glow plug light came on and engine was dead. Took to closest mechanic who started repairs to find drive belt tore up, jammed in tb cover, timing slipped, engine is caput. VW denying any warranty because belts not covered. All this happened within 20k post timing belt. Electrical issues turned out to be my power steering harness was piggybacked on other wire of SA fuse because fuse was blown, funny car operated fine before timing belt replacement. Service dept kept warranty out of conversation and denies any liability on electric issues, I am fighting a huge uphill battle right now. I actually like my car until all this BS.

 

[oilhammer]

I feel sorry for you guys that place so much faith in this silly warranty. And I think the stupidity and ignorance of both Volkswagen's dealer people as well as corporate people is quite literally criminal.

Going to be lots and lots of cheap CKRA NMS Passats floating around before long. We've already found a fix for the rando-blow oil filter housing. Updated camshaft seal to fix that oil leak. Turbochargers were updated years ago. Then to delete/tune the rest of the liabilities away, all that is left is the somewhat finicky solenoid injectors... but might yet prove to be a decent car yet.

Shame, could have been such a nice car, really.

 

[thelovehateofTDICKRA]

I feel sorry for you guys that place so much faith in this silly warranty. And I think the stupidity and ignorance of both Volkswagen's dealer people as well as corporate people is quite literally criminal.

Going to be lots and lots of cheap CKRA NMS Passats floating around before long. We've already found a fix for the rando-blow oil filter housing. Updated camshaft seal to fix that oil leak. Turbochargers were updated years ago. Then to delete/tune the rest of the liabilities away, all that is left is the somewhat finicky solenoid injectors... but might yet prove to be a decent car yet.

Shame, could have been such a nice car, really.

I think my issue is that all my electrical issues and leaks started after being in for 120k service with timing belt change. Why not replace the seals while in there and if it costs more ask me, I would have done it! Then they lied to me about my power steering harness saying on the phone that they didn't know what the cable was and was gonna just cut it out and charge me for replacing entire fuse box because it was needed. The rep even told me it was a fire hazard that I had been driving. They are the only ones ever to touch my car and was purchased on their lot, serviced multiple times before and never noted this abnormality until I said soemthing. So I had them stop repairs and give me my car. I think what ticks me off is that all the issues were brushed off as fuses each time and charged me the electrical diagnostic fee each time and just replaced the fuse. The supposed oil leak at egr never recurred after they quote cleaned it. Then the valve cover was leaking, then the rear main seal, then the camshaft and crankshaft seals, all the seals and leaks started after timing belt so I cannot help but ask and wonder why? And why, when these are items listed in the tdi warranty was I not told about the warranty ever and billed out for all the repairs or handed $1-4k estimates for repairing them. I think workmanship and lying is my bigger issue with them, not the money itself but that I honestly feel the service department didn't do the work or did crappt work or was responsible for the issues, especially the power steering harness because you could see indent line on fuse panel where cable had been there so maybe they piggybacked it to cover up a screw up at TB change because car was fine prior to that electrical wise and oil leak wise. At this point I am in legal battle and BBB battle my stealership. It is time consuming and emotionally draining. I just want to be done with it all but I am stuck on a soap box because they outright lied to me about the power steering harness and made me lose faith in them

 

[oilhammer]

Yeah, some of these dealers are really bad. One here in the STL area is especially bad. They try and get people to buy things they do not need, and mark things up a ridiculous amount. I get a LOT of work courtesy of that type of thing. Most recently I replaced a transmission (Aisin) on a Passat and our shop beat their price by a whopping $1800.... and I installed a genuine new transmission from [a different] dealer! So it wasn't like I was installing some cheapo POS or used unit or something. I was installing the same damn thing they would have. They marked up the parts WAY over list. They were going to charge for ATF (VAG gearboxes already come full!), they were going to charge them for a new ATF cooler (VAG gearboxes come with a NEW cooler already installed) and they were going to charge them to reprogram the TCM, which on the Aisin is not necessary at all. Just a quick DTC clear and that's it.

 

[Lightflyer1]

I feel sorry for you guys that place so much faith in this silly warranty. And I think the stupidity and ignorance of both Volkswagen's dealer people as well as corporate people is quite literally criminal.

Going to be lots and lots of cheap CKRA NMS Passats floating around before long. We've already found a fix for the rando-blow oil filter housing. Updated camshaft seal to fix that oil leak. Turbochargers were updated years ago. Then to delete/tune the rest of the liabilities away, all that is left is the somewhat finicky solenoid injectors... but might yet prove to be a decent car yet.

Shame, could have been such a nice car, really.

Most of us don't place a lot of faith in the warranty. But if it's there and you can use it and you can get them to fix it and not have to pay, why not try first? There are quite a number of people that have found the warranty to be useful in the fact that the money didn't come out of their pocket and the dealership actually fixed their car. 99% of us don't have somebody like you close enough to do service and maintenance as needed. Might as well just tell them to junk the car and get something non-VW that is not so expensive and challenging to repair for the average mechanic. The majority of people also don't know how to work on their own car either, so they're at a crossroads. I won't own another VW after this car is done. Older, less complicated US cars (pre 1997) rebuilt/restored will be in my future. At this point I don't recommend these cars or VW brand to anyone anymore.